Municipalities Forum
Development Forum for Municipalities
Municipalities are increasingly developing green plans and sustainable development plans with the aim of decreasing the ecological footprint of their communities. This is due, in part, to regulatory obligations as large amounts of infrastructure and development funding is, or will be tied to such plans. Also, more and more citizens are requesting green plans and putting pressure on municipalities to improve their environmental performance. Therefore, there is a need for a forum that would allow municipalities to share ideas, discuss new and innovative projects and learn more about the importance of sustainability plans, on local and regional scales.
For this project, the FBR is building on the outcomes of a recent conference called Adaptations and Actions, held in February of 2009. This conference identified the need for municipalities to develop sustainability plans, and highlighting the lack of information provided to the municipalities on the contents of these plans. The objective of the Sustainable Development Forum for Municipalities is to provide the opportunity for municipalities in the FBR to learn about sustainability planning.
PROJECT CONCEPT
The Sustainable Development Forum for Municipalities was a one day event reserved for municipal governments and community planners within the FBR to learn about Integrated Community Sustainability Planning. Each municipality had the opportunity to present and discuss their own sustainable development initiatives, and learn from others best practices. Through presentations, discussions and networking activities, it was hoped that municipalities with common objectives would generate new ideas and launch new projects together with shared resources. One of the main outcomes of this exercise was the building of a consensus between municipalities that more resources need to become available as well as information pertaining to the obtaining the access to funding.
Denny Richard also presented “Thinking Green”, a presentation on how the town of Bouctouche conceptualized a series of environmental initiatives within their communities. Mr. Richard spoke of challenges, strengths and weaknesses as well as the general steps needed to build such plans. He also explained several of the initiatives taking place in Bouctouche in addition to demonstrating where the town was headed in terms of sustainable development.
Kuli Malhotra from Antigonish Sustainable Development also provided a presentation on the process of implementation as well as available funding sources to conduct initial studies. Some discussions on the importance of a regional approach for sustainability plans occurred, as the activities in one municipality will have significant impacts on the surrounding areas.
All in all, the day was a success. Many issues and concerns were highlighted and the most pressing problems were established. The day ended with a general feedback that the FBR needs to provide more resources to the communities in the biosphere region as well as the methodology on how to get funding for Intergrated Community Sustainable Planning and other sustainable development initiatives.
OUTCOMES OF THE EVENT
1.Sharing of knowledge, experiences on best practices.
2.Provide municipalities with information on sustainability plans.
3.Discuss regional cooperation in sustainability plans.
EVENT LOCATION AND TIMELINE
The Sustainable Development Forum for Municipalities was held:
June 25th, 2009 starting at 9:00 AM and ending at 4:00 PM.
Memramcook Institute,Memramcook, NB.
ADVISORY PLANNING COMMITTEE
• Yves Gagnon, Chair – K.C. Irving Chair in Sustainable Development, Université de Moncton
• Andrew Spring, Executive Director, FBR
• Paul Bogaard, Vice Chair, Fundy Biosphere Reserve
• Yolande LeBlanc, Memramcook
• Tania Kotyk, Project Assistant, FBR
• Heather Hawker, City of Moncton
CHAIR OF THE EVENT
Paul Bogaard, Vice Chair, Fundy Biosphere Reserve
PARTICIPANTS:
The Sustainable Development Forum for Municipalities was reserved to the 14 municipalities in the FBR, represented by the mayor (or other elected official) and/or an employee (responsible for the environment).
Municipalities
• City of Dieppe
• City of Moncton
• City of Riverview
• Fort Folly First Nations
• Town of Sackville
• Town of Sussex
• Village of Alma
• Village of Port Elgin
• Village of Dorchester
• Village of Hillsborough
• Village of Memramcook
• Village of Petitcodiac
• Village of Riverside Albert
• Village of Sussex Corner
• Village of St Martins
• Village of Elgin
• Village of Salisbury
Additionally, other New Brunswick Agencies, local Community Economic Development Agencies, and other stakeholder groups were invited to attend.
